When did Bairo Gonzalez arrive in Brazil?

Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez arrived in Brazil in 2002. He came to work for an education company, where he held a management position. It was the fulfillment of an old wish: ever since he was a boy, in Colombia, he had said that one day he would live in Brazil, and capoeira had been his bridge to the country.

The early years

The beginning was not simple. When he decided to leave the company that had brought him and follow his own path, he discovered how an immigrant can lose the ground beneath him: far from home, with no support network, and afraid. It took him years to get back on his feet.

From that time, a sentence remained that he still repeats today: the sun is for everyone, but shade, in the heat, is for the few. It is a reminder that many people arrive in a new country with the same opportunities on paper and very different conditions in practice.

What came next

From there began a string of businesses of his own: a salon opened with his partner, a hair-treatment course, a natural cosmetics brand, events and digital printing businesses. Some worked, others didn't. More than once he lost everything and started over.

More than two decades after he arrived, he runs two companies registered in the United Kingdom and administers the Brazilian company that operates CEASA Bank. Brazil is still home, and the base of every project.

Read also

• Capoeira was the bridge
• The sun is for everyone